Army veterans unhappy with OROP 2

The retired Majors and Squadron Leaders lament they were 'salami-sliced' from the rest of the officer cadre and said instead of a raise, their pension was reduced by a considerable amount in the OROP 2

Hyderabad: Some of the retired defence personnel, who have put in 20 to 21 year of services as Majors/Squadron Leaders, are aggrieved at the injustice meted out to them in the recently notified One Rank One Pension (OROP) 2.

The retired Majors and Squadron Leaders lament they were ‘salami-sliced’ from the rest of the officer cadre and said instead of a raise, their pension was reduced by a considerable amount in the OROP 2.

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Given their years of service, the retired officers wanted the Ministry of Defence to grant the Lieutenant Colonels/Wing Commanders pension to the Majors/Squadron Leaders, who retired before.

According to the retired officers, the Principal Controller of the Defence Accounts (PCDA) Pensions has recently notified an OROP 2 chart for all the ranks starting from Captain to Lieutenant General. Every rank with 20 years of service was given a raise in the pension except for Majors and Squadron Leaders with 20 to 21 years of service, they said.

They point out that the OROP mandates the same pension for defence personnel who retired before, provided they have the same rank and same years of service as the present retiree.

Stating that OROP principle was violated, the retired officers said the PCDA Pensions equated Majors and Squadron Leaders who had retired after 20-21 years of service with ones of 10, 11 or 12 years of service in the same rank, which was not pensionable service. The retirement pension was granted only after 20 years of service.

The purpose of the OROP, according to them, was to provide periodic increments to all who had retired before and keep them at par with the present retirees.

“Pay or pension can be only increased and never kept the same or reduced. In our case, it has been reduced. Even as per OROP principles, this is wrong. My plea is that we must be given the pension raise as per the OROP guidelines of the same rank and same years of service and not of 10 years of service onwards,” said the 83-year old Squadron Leader (retired) V Nagarajan, who was awarded Kirthi Chakra for his services to the nation.

A 73-year old Major (Retired) CN Anand said in OROP 2 Majors with 20-21 years of service were equated with a Major who was boarded out with over 12 years of service, which was wrong.

“I was hoping to buy a new hearing aid with the arrears from OROP 2, but now I can forget about it,” said Major Anand, who lost a part of hearing in a blast in Nagaland 45 years ago.